Lighting apparatus and vehicular lamp comprising same

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a lighting apparatus capable of providing three-dimensional effects at the same time as the surface emission of light sources by using a half-mirror member for reflecting and transmitting parts of light. In particular, by adopting the half-mirror member for transmitting a part of and reflecting another part of light emitted from a surface-emitting light source module, the present invention allows the implementation of a mirror-like image when the light is off, and allows the implementation of a light image providing various three-dimensional effects when the light is on.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation Application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/519,046, filed Apr. 13, 2017, which is a U.S.National Stage Application under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of PCT Application No.PCT/KR2015/011174, filed Oct. 22, 2015, which claims priority to KoreanPatent Application No. 10-2014-0143428, filed Oct. 22, 2014, whoseentire disclosures are hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a lighting apparatus which allows athree-dimensional effect to be felt while surface light is emitted in alight source using a half-mirror member configured to reflect andtransmit some light.

BACKGROUND ART

Light emitting devices such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) have beenapplied to various kinds of lighting.

Such lighting is generally applied to increase illuminance in a limitedplace, achieve a uniform luminous efficiency, or is variously appliedand employed in a manner that adjusts luminance of vehicle lighting forsatisfying a predetermined light distribution regulation.

The necessity of an application that may implement various shapes or athree-dimensional effect in consideration of design factors instead ofan application of two-dimensional planar light has been increasing as anecessity in an application field of general purpose lighting.

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to providing alighting apparatus which employs a half-mirror member configured totransmit some light emitted from a light source module configured toemit surface light and reflect the remaining light so that an image likethat reflected by a mirror is implemented when the lighting apparatus isoff and a light image through which various three-dimensional images arefelt is implemented when the lighting apparatus is on.

One aspect of the present invention provides a lighting apparatusincluding a light source module including an optical member configuredto guide light emitted by a light emitting unit to implement surfacelight emission, and an optical module including a half-mirror memberconfigured to transmit and reflect light which passes through the lightsource module, wherein the optical module is disposed above the lightsource module.

A lighting apparatus according to embodiments of the present inventionemploys a half-mirror member configured to transmit some light emittedfrom a light source module configured to emit surface light and reflectthe remaining light so that effects in that an image like that reflectedby a mirror is obtained when the lighting apparatus is off and a lightimage through which various three-dimensional images are felt when thelighting apparatus is on can be achieved.

In addition, according to the embodiments of the present invention,since a resin layer is used as a member configured to structurally guidelight to induce light, effects in that a three-dimensional effect can befelt, the lighting apparatus can be installed at various devices orplaces by securing flexibility thereof, the number of light emittingunits can be decreased by increasing an optical efficiency thereof, andthe lighting apparatus can be formed in a thin film type can beachieved.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 and 2 are cross-sectional views illustrating main parts of alighting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3A is a view showing an image of the lighting apparatus accordingto the embodiment of the present invention when the lighting apparatusis off, and FIG. 3B is a view showing an image of the lighting apparatusaccording to the embodiment of the present invention when the lightingapparatus is on.

FIGS. 4 and 5A and 5B are a conceptual cross-sectional view illustratinga lighting apparatus having a structure that is different from that ofthe first embodiment and views showing images when the lightingapparatus is on.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are views illustrating modified structures that aredifferent from that of the lighting apparatus according to theabove-described embodiment.

FIGS. 8A, 8B and 9A-9C are views illustrating exposed images when thelighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present inventionis on and off.

FIGS. 10 to 22 are cross-sectional views illustrating main parts ofstructures according to various different embodiments of the presentinvention and images to which the various embodiments are applied.

FIG. 23 is a comparison table of the number of virtual images of lightwhich implements a three-dimensional effect to a transmittance of ahalf-mirror member according to the above-described various embodimentsof the present invention.

FIG. 24 shows views showing examples of various three-dimensional imagesimplemented according to the embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, a configuration and operations of the present inventionwill be specifically described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. In the description with the accompanying drawings, likereference numerals in the drawings denote like elements, and thus thedescription thereof will not be repeated. Although the terms first,second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, theseelements are not limited by these terms. These terms are only used todistinguish one element from another element.

First Embodiment

FIGS. 1 and 2 are cross-sectional views illustrating main parts of alighting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to the illustrated drawings, the lighting apparatus accordingto the embodiment of the present invention may include a light sourcemodule 100 having an optical member 130 configured to emit surface lightby guiding light emitted from a light emitting unit 120, and an opticalmodule 200 having a half-mirror member 210 configured to transmit andreflect light which passed through the light source module 100.Particularly, in this case, the optical module 200 including thehalf-mirror member 210 may further include a diffusion member 220. Inthis case, the diffusion member 220 may be disposed adjacent to thehalf-mirror member 210. In this case, the concept “disposed adjacent to”includes a concept including a case in which the diffusion member 220and the half-mirror member 210 are disposed to be pressed against eachother as illustrated in the drawings, attached to each other anddisposed by an adhesive material layer as a medium, or disposed to bespaced a predetermined distance from each other. A pressure sensitiveadhesive (PSA), a thermosetting adhesive, and an ultraviolet (UV) raycured PSA type material may be used as such an adhesive material layer.

In addition, the lighting apparatus may further include an externalhousing 300 configured to accommodate the light source module 100therein.

In a structure of the lighting apparatus shown in FIG. 1, light emittedfrom the light emitting unit 120 is guided by the optical member 130,and surface light is emitted through an upper portion of the opticalmember 130. Furthermore, light emitted through the upper portion of theoptical member 130 is introduced into the optical module 200 disposed tobe spaced a predetermined separation space (hereinafter, referred to asa first separation portion A) therefrom, and the introduced lightimplements a light image having a three-dimensional effect while beingreflected and transmitted by the diffusion member 220 and thehalf-mirror member 210.

The term “three-dimensional effect” in the embodiment of the presentinvention is defined as a light emission image that is implemented by alight emitting surface of the lighting apparatus and has a certain depthor volume effect. Particularly, to this end, the half-mirror member 210included in the optical module 200 may be formed as a film member havinga structure in which a metal layer is deposited on a base material. Thebase material may include various synthetic resin films, and the metallayer may be formed by depositing or applying a metal material, such asNi, Cr, Al, or Ti, capable of being deposited on the film base material.A member configured to transmit some light and reflect the remaininglight is generally referred to as the half-mirror member 210.

Of course, even though the half-mirror member 210 in a separate filmtype may be disposed above or under the diffusion member 220, thehalf-mirror member 210 may also be formed as an integrated structure bydirectly depositing the metal layer on the diffusion member 220 asillustrated in FIG. 2, and in this case, a thinner type structure may beformed. In this case, the metal layer may be deposited on one or bothsurfaces of the diffusion member 220, and letters or pictures may alsobe added as specific shapes.

Furthermore, in a structure shown in FIG. 1, when a film layer on whicha specific pattern has been formed is added between the half-mirrormember 210 and the diffusion member 220, an image of a letter or figuremay also be implemented in a three-dimensional structure.

In addition, in the structure of the lighting apparatus, the firstseparation portion A may be disposed between the optical module 200 andthe light source module 100 to uniformly deliver light of asurface-light-emission-light source, and particularly, the firstseparation portion A may be formed to have a range of 5 to 10 mm from anaspect of efficiency of surface light emission. That is, when thelighting apparatus is off, an image like that reflected by a mirror isimplemented due to the half-mirror member 210 (see FIG. 3A), and whenthe lighting apparatus is on, an image of the surface light emission(see FIG. 3B) may be implemented. It is preferable for the range of theabove-described separation portion to be satisfied to implement suchuniformity of surface light emission.

In addition, the light emitting unit 120 applied to the lightingapparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention may bedisposed to have a structure in which the light emitting unit 120 ismounted on a printed circuit board (PCB) 110, and in this case, theboard 110 may secure flexibility of the entire lighting apparatus usinga flexible PCB having flexibility.

In addition, one or more light emitting units 120 are arranged on theflexible PCB 110 to emit light, and the light emitting unit 120according to one embodiment may be formed as a side view type lightemitting diode (LED). When compared to use of a top view type LED, sincelight that will be transmitted upward may be transmitted through theoptical member 130 when the side view type LED is used, there is anadvantage in that a thickness of the optical member 130, in which thestacked light emitting units 120 are embedded, is thinned becauseintensity of the light is adjustable. Particularly, when the opticalmember 130 is formed using a flexible resin like in the embodiment ofthe present invention, there may be an advantage in that flexibility ofthe resin layer is secured while uniformity of light of a light emittingsurface with a planar plate structure is secured. That is, when a topview type LED is used, light is emitted upward. In this case, a rangewithin which light is spread around the LED is narrow. When a side viewtype LED is used, since light is widely spread through side surfacesthereof, a light spreading characteristic is improved and acharacteristic of securing an amount of light is improved so that thenumber of light sources may be decreased. That is, an LED having astructure which emits light toward side surfaces thereof rather than astructure which emits light directly upward may be used as the lightemitting unit 120 according to the embodiment.

In addition, the light emitting unit 120 according to the embodiment ofthe present invention may be formed in a structure in which the lightemitting unit 120 is embedded in the optical member 130. In this case,the optical member 130 may be formed by applying and curing a resinhaving a predetermined viscosity on the light emitting unit 120, and theoptical member 130 preferably has a predetermined flexibility even afterthe resin is cured. In addition, when the light emitting unit 120 isformed in the structure in which the light emitting unit 120 is embeddedin the optical member 130, since the optical member 130 including theresin and the light emitting unit 120 is integrally formed, thestructure thereof is simplified. In addition, when a light emittingelement such as an LED used as the light emitting unit 120 is used,since a refractive index of a phosphor silicon disposed in front of theLED is different from that of the resin layer, which is the opticalmember 130, that is, since the refractive index is different from thatof when light is directly emitted to air, there is an effect in that anamount of light emitted from the LED is increased. Specifically, sincethe refractive index of the phosphor silicon is typically 1.5 and thatof the resin layer is typically 1.47, and a critical angle is increasedas a difference of refractive indexes between media through which lightpasses is decreased, light lost inside the LED is decreased and a largeamount of light can be secured.

In addition, when the light emitting unit 120 is formed in a structurein which the light emitting unit 120 is inserted into the optical member130, since a thickness of the entire lighting apparatus may be thinnedwhen compared to a conventional structure in which a light guide plateis disposed at a top surface thereof, and may be formed in a structurein which light is directly emitted toward an inside of the opticalmember 130, there is an advantage in that an amount of lost light isdecreased and optical efficiency is increased.

In addition, since the light emitting unit 120 including a side viewtype LED is disposed as a vertical type in the lighting apparatusaccording to the embodiment of the present invention and the resin layerconfigured to diffuse and reflect light is used to diffuse and inducethe light upward, the total number of light emitting units 120 can bedecreased and a total weight and thickness of the lighting apparatus canbe significantly decreased.

The optical member 130 is disposed on the light emitting unit 120, andparticularly, the optical member 130 according to the exemplaryembodiment of the present invention is formed in a structure having aplanar plate type and flexibility (hereinafter, referred as a resinlayer) using a resin to diffuse and induce light emitted from the lightemitting unit 120 forward. That is, since the resin layer is formed in astructure in which the light emitting unit 120 is embedded, the resinlayer serves to disperse light emitted from light emitting unit 120 in alateral direction.

The resin layer according to the embodiment may basically be made of aresin having a material capable of diffusing light. For example, theabove-described resin layer according to one embodiment may be made ofan UV curable resin including an oligomer, and more particularly, may bemade of a resin having a urethane acrylate oligomer as a main material.For example, the resin in which a urethane acrylate oligomer, which is asynthetic oligomer, and a polymer type, which is a polyacryl, are mixedmay be used. Of course, the resin layer may further include a monomermixed with isobornyl acrylate (IBOA), which is a low boiling pointdiluent type reactive monomer, hydroxylpropyl acrylate (HPA),2-hydroxyethyl acrylate (2-HEA), and the like, and a photoinitiator(such as 1-hydroxycyclohexyl phenyl-ketone and the like), anantioxidant, or the like may be mixed into the resin layer as anadditive. However, the above description is only one embodiment, and theresin layer may be formed with a suitable resin capable of performing alight diffusing function which is currently being developed andcommercialized or may be implemented according to future technologicaldevelopments.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, since the opticalmember is formed in the resin layer structure, a thickness of the lightguide plate can be significantly decreased when compared to that of aconventional light guide plate, and thus there are advantages in that anentire product can be a thin film type and can be easily applied to acurved surface due to having a flexible material, a degree of designfreedom can be improved, and the product can also be applied to otherflexible displays, lamps of a severely curved front or rear surface of avehicle, or the like.

Second Embodiment

FIGS. 4, 5A and 5B are a conceptual cross-sectional view illustrating alighting apparatus having a structure that is different from that of theabove-described first embodiment and views showing images when thelighting apparatus is on.

A structural difference of the second embodiment compared to theabove-described first embodiment is that at least one optical patternlayer 230 is disposed between a half-mirror member 210 and a diffusionmember 220 in a structure of an optical module 200 even though astructure of a light source module 100 is the same as that of the firstembodiment. In addition, a separation space between the light sourcemodule 100 and the optical module 200 is eliminated.

Since the optical pattern layer 230 is disposed above a light emittingunit 120, a hot spot problem in which a surface of an optical member 130or surfaces of optical members are deteriorated due to intense lightemitted from the light emitting unit 120 may be prevented.

A shielding structure (a film, a substrate, and the like) configured touse a separate structure to shield light may be applied to the opticalpattern layer 230, and the optical pattern layer 230 may also be formedin a pattern having a light shielding function by printing a lightshielding material on a top surface of a diffusion member or on aseparate film.

Features of the second embodiment are that surface light may be emittedeven without a separation space, a mirror image is implemented when thelighting apparatus is off, a surface light emission image may beimplemented when the lighting apparatus is on, and thus a thickness ofthe entire lighting apparatus can be reduced.

Third Embodiment

FIGS. 6 and 7 are views illustrating modified structures that aredifferent from that of the lighting apparatus according to theabove-described embodiment.

A structural difference of a lighting apparatus according to the thirdembodiment in comparison to those of the above-described first andsecond embodiments is that at least one optical pattern layer 230 isdisposed between a half-mirror member 210 and a diffusion member 220,and a pattern structure having a reflecting function rather than amember having a simple shielding function is disposed in an opticalmodule 200 even though a structure of a light source module 100 is thesame as those of the first and second embodiments. That is, when adesired pattern or draft proposal pattern is processed and patterned ona metal thin film layer member such as an Ag film to form the opticalpattern layer 230 and the optical pattern layer 230 is disposed betweenthe half-mirror member 210 and the diffusion member 220 in the opticalmodule 200, an image having a three-dimensional effect as well asreflection and surface light emission effects of the half-mirror memberimplemented in the lighting apparatus according the present inventionmay be implemented.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, in an arrangement structure of the opticalpattern layer 230, the optical pattern layer 230 is disposed between thehalf-mirror member 210 and the diffusion member 220. In the illustratedstructure, a first separation portion Al is formed between the lightsource module 100 and the optical module 200 to improve efficiency ofsurface light emission, and the above-described pattern of the opticalpattern layer 230 is not viewed due to a mirror image of the half-mirrormember 210 when the lighting apparatus is off, however, characters orimages patterned in an optical pattern are emitted to have a structurehaving a three-dimensional effect when the lighting apparatus is on.

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a separation space (hereinafter, referredas a second separation portion A3) formed between the above-describedoptical pattern layer 230 and the half-mirror member 210 shown in FIG.6, through which a depth effect of a three-dimensional image may beadjusted more realistically.

FIG. 8A is a view showing an entire mirror image of the lightingapparatus when the lighting apparatus is off, and FIG. 8B is a viewshowing an image in which an optical pattern is exposed when thelighting apparatus is on.

Particularly, referring to images shown in FIG. 9, a light emittingsurface of the lighting apparatus is exposed in a mirror image when thelighting apparatus is off, as illustrated in FIG. 9A, but it can be seenthat characters, letters, and the like are emitted to have a structurehaving a three-dimensional effect when the lighting apparatus is on whenreferring to FIGS. 9B and 9C.

Fourth Embodiment

The fourth embodiment is a modification of the above-describedembodiments in that an optical member including a half-mirror member 210is disposed above a light source module 100 without a diffusion memberto implement a three-dimensional effect of a light source itself.

Referring to FIG. 10, the light source module 100 is similar to those ofthe other embodiments in that the light source module 100 includes a PCB110, a light emitting unit 120, and an optical member 130 having a resinlayer. However, there are differences in that the half-mirror member 210is disposed to be directly pressed against an upper portion of theoptical member 130 or to be spaced a predetermined separation space (1to 2 mm) from the optical member 130, and particularly, an opticalpattern layer 230 in which optical patterns such as characters, a logo,or the like are patterned is disposed between the PCB 110 and theoptical member 130.

Due to such an arrangement structure, it can be seen that a mirror imageis implemented when a lighting apparatus is off as illustrated in FIG.11A, but an image of an optical pattern layer is variously displayed tohave a three-dimensional effect when the lighting apparatus is on, asillustrated in FIGS. 11B and 11C. In this case, a difference in thethree-dimensional effect may be modified by changing a size and an imageof the optical pattern or by adjusting a transmittance of thehalf-mirror member.

A structure shown in FIG. 12 is slightly different from that shown inFIG. 10 in that the optical pattern layer 230 is disposed above theoptical member 130, and the half-mirror member 210 is disposed as anuppermost layer of the structure. Of course, in this case, an adhesivematerial layer 240 may be added between the half-mirror member 210 andthe optical pattern layer 230. In this case, the adhesive material layer240 has a similar function as the above-described separation portionshown in FIG. 7, secures a predetermined distance sufficient for afunction of realizing a three-dimensional effect and surface lightemission, and particularly, is preferably implemented in a range of 0.5to 1.5 mm to implement a three-dimensional effect.

In this case, an Ag film layer having a metal reflection characteristicmay be applied to the optical pattern layer 230, and through this theabove-described hot spot phenomenon of the light emitting unit 120 isprevented and a light emission image may be simultaneously implementedin various three-dimensional shapes as illustrated in FIGS. 13B and 13C.Of course, a mirror image is implemented as illustrated in FIG. 13A whenthe lighting apparatus is off.

Fifth Embodiment

The fifth embodiment of the present invention presents a structure thatimplements a different three-dimensional effect by changing thestructure of the above-described lighting apparatus. That is, a featureof the fifth embodiment is that a three-dimensional effect may bevariously changed by a light source module 100 and a half-mirror member120 being obliquely disposed to have a predetermined slope rather thanan arrangement of a parallel structure, and adjusting an incident angleof light which is incident on the half-mirror member 120.

That is, as illustrated in FIG. 14, a light image having a certainthree-dimensional effect is further changed by the light source module100 being obliquely disposed in a housing 300 to have the predeterminedslope based on an arrangement structure of the half-mirror member 210(see FIG. 15).

More specifically, an extension line of a top surface of an opticalmember of the light source module 100 and an extension line of a bottomsurface of the half-mirror member 210 may form an inclination angle. Inthis case, an optical pattern layer 230 in which a logo or charactersare patterned is disposed on an sloped optical member 130, or adiffusion member 220 may be added to the optical member 130 and theoptical pattern layer 230 may be formed to be disposed on the diffusionmember 220. Due to such an arrangement, the optical member 130 emitssurface light, and the light emitted from the optical member 130 isdiffused through the diffusion member 220 and passes through the opticalpattern layer 230. However, since the entire light source module 100 isobliquely disposed, a predetermined portion of a path of an image oflight which reaches, is reflected by, and is transmitted through thehalf-mirror member 210 is changed, and thus an image having athree-dimensional effect may be implemented as illustrated in FIG. 15.

Sixth Embodiment

In the sixth embodiment, a level of three-dimensional effect may beadjusted on the basis of a structure disposed in parallel with anarrangement direction of a light source module of a half-mirror member210 disposed above a light source module 100 by at least two lightsource modules 100 being disposed and a predetermined portion of adiffusion member 220 being obliquely disposed in a housing 300. Here, astructure of the light source module 100 is the same as the structure ofthe above-described first embodiment. Specifically, the light sourcemodule 100 includes the light emitting unit 120 and the optical member130 shown in FIG. 1, and includes a device configured to emit surfacelight through a top surface of the optical member 130, and FIG. 16 is aview illustrating an embodiment in which two or more light sourcemodules 100 are disposed and light is emitted upward. In the illustratedstructure, the light source module 100 may be disposed such that lightis also emitted toward side surfaces rather than upward.

In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 16, in the present embodiment, thediffusion member 220 may be disposed above the two light source modules100 such that a central portion thereof is bent and obliquely disposedtoward the central portion of the two light source modules 100. Inaddition, an optical pattern layer 230 is disposed or a metal thin filmlayer having a structure which performs only a reflecting function andin which a separate optical pattern is not formed (for example, an Agthin film) is disposed on the diffusion member 220.

In the illustrated structure, since a metal thin film is not covered onthe light source module 100, light may be transmitted, and some of thetransmitted light is reflected and transmitted by the half-mirror member210 disposed above the light source module 100, and thus athree-dimensional image may be implemented as shown in FIG. 17. Ofcourse, a second separation portion A is formed between the diffusionmember 220 and the half-mirror member 210 to more effectively implementthe three-dimensional effect. To this end, the second separation portionA may be formed in a range of 1 to 4 mm, but is not limited thereto, andan inclination angle of the diffusion member with respect to a bottomsurface of the half-mirror member may be variously changed according toa desired light image.

Seventh Embodiment

A structure of a lighting apparatus according to the seventh embodimentof the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 18and 19. A feature of the structure of the seventh embodiment is that itis the same as that the structure in which the half-mirror member 210 isdisposed in parallel above the light source module 100 of the sixthembodiment, but the structure also includes a reflection module 400provided with a reflective layer 420 on a base material 410 having alight transmission characteristic therein. Particularly, since a surfaceof the reflection module has a predetermined curvature, the reflectivelayer 420 may also be disposed to have the predetermined curvature.Here, the reflective layer 420 may be disposed by deposition or coating.Of course, a separation portion A is formed between the half-mirrormember 210 and the reflection module 400 to implement athree-dimensional effect even in the structure of the presentembodiment. In addition, a structure of the light source module 100 isthe same as the above-described structure according to the firstembodiment.

In addition, the base material 410 is preferably formed in a structurein which one portion of the base material 410 is not covered by thereflective layer 420 so that the structure allows light emitted from thelight source module 100 disposed under the base material 410 to betransmitted to an upper portion of the reflection module. Furthermore,the light transmitted to the upper portion of the reflection module isreflected and transmitted by the half-mirror member 210, and thereflected light is reflected again by a curved surface of the reflectivelayer 420 so that a unique three-dimensional structure is implemented asillustrated in FIG. 19.

Such an image having a three-dimensional structure may be variouslyadjusted by adjusting a curvature of the reflection module 400, but thecurvature is not entirely limited to a gentle curvature structure shownin FIG. 18, and a three-dimensional image can be variously changed by areflective layer having a partially curved structure being disposed in apattern type and light being transmitted toward a surface of a basematerial in which the reflective layer is not formed.

A synthetic resin material having high optical transmittance may beapplied to the base material 410, and polyethylene terephthalate,polyethylene naphthalate, acrylic resin, polycarbonate, polystyrene,polyolefin, cellulose acetate, and a weather resistant vinyl chloridemay be used for the base material 410, but the base material 410 is notlimited thereto. In addition, the base material 410 may include anymaterial including a highly permeable plastic and the like such as anacrylic resin, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), cyclic olefin copolymer(COC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and a resin capable ofperforming a condensing function.

In addition, the reflective layer may be formed with a metal materiallayer including Ag or the like having an excellent reflectioncharacteristic, or a reflective material layer, such as TiO2, CaCo3,BaSo4, Al2O3, silicon, and polystyrene (PS), may be coated with titaniumoxide, aluminum oxide, zinc oxide, lead carbonate, barium sulfate, orcalcium carbonate, and may be formed with a synthetic resin layercontaining these materials.

In addition, the light source module 100 shown in FIG. 18 includes thelight emitting unit 120 and the optical member 130 shown in FIG. 1, andincludes a device configured to emit surface light through a top surfaceof the optical member 130, and FIG. 18 is a view illustrating that twoor more light source modules 100 are disposed and light is emittedupward according to the embodiment. In the illustrated structure, eachof the light source modules 100 may be disposed to emit light towardside surfaces rather than upward.

Alternatively, a structure of the reflection module 400 may also beformed differently as illustrated in FIG. 20.

A feature of a structure shown in FIG. 20 is that two or more lightsource modules may also be employed as illustrated in FIG. 18 eventhough one light source module 100 is exemplarily disposed in FIG. 20,particularly, the reflection module 400 is formed on the light sourcemodule, a plurality of unit reflection modules 430 and 440 havingcurvatures are formed thereon, and the remaining portion is left as abase material portion 450 so that light may be transmitted therethrough.

That is, in the case of a unit reflection module, a unit reflectivelayer 440 having a curvature is formed by a reflective material beingdeposited or coated on a unit base material 430 having a curvature, anda plurality of such structures are provided. Through this structure,when light emitted from the light source module 100 disposed under thebase material portion 450 is transmitted upward through the basematerial portion 450 at which the reflective layer 440 is not formed andreaches the half-mirror member 210, some of the light is transmitted,the remaining light is reflected, and the reflected light is reflectedagain by a curved surface 440 of the reflective layer so that a varietyof three-dimensional images are formed as shown in FIG. 22. FIG. 21 is aview illustrating an actual example of the unit reflection moduleaccording to the present embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a comparison table of the number of virtual images of lightwhich implement a three-dimensional effect to a transmittance of ahalf-mirror member according to the above-described various embodimentsof the present invention. In this experiment, an image ofthree-dimensional light is implemented by forming a square frame asshown in FIG. 18 and forming the half-mirror member 210 by depositing Cron a transparent substrate so that the transparent substrate has atransmittance of 20 to 50%.

It may be seen that the number of virtual images which are implementedaccording to a transmittance of the half-mirror member 210 is two tothree based on a transmittance of 50%, and is four to five based on atransmittance of 20%, and thus a three-dimensional effect is furtherimproved.

That is, in the various embodiments of the present invention, the numberof virtual images of light is increased as a transmittance of thehalf-mirror member 210 is decreased. This is because an amount of lightreflected toward an inside of the lighting apparatus by the half-mirrormember 210 is increased and thus the number of reflections repeatedtherein is increased.

Accordingly, the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment of thepresent invention may implement an image or character having athree-dimensional effect by providing the half-mirror member 210configured to reflect light emitted by the flexible light source module100 configured to emit surface light, may further improve thethree-dimensional effect by adjusting a transmittance of the half-mirrormember 210, and may diversify such a three-dimensional effect byemploying various reflection modules, arrangement structures, or opticalpattern layers.

FIG. 24 shows views showing examples of various three-dimensional imagesimplemented according to the embodiments of the present invention. Thelighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present inventioncapable of realizing such images may be applied to various lamp devicessuch as a vehicular lamp, a household lighting apparatus, and anindustrial lighting apparatus, which require illumination. For example,when the lighting apparatus according to the embodiment of the presentinvention is applied to a vehicular lamp, it may also be applied to aheadlight, a vehicle interior light, a door scarf, a rear light, and thelike. In addition, the lighting apparatus according to the embodimentmay be also applied to the backlighting apparatus field which is appliedto a liquid crystal display (LCD) and all lighting related fields whichare currently being developed and commercialized or can be implementedaccording to future technology developments.

Specific embodiments of the preset invention have been described abovein detail. The embodiments can be variously modified without departingfrom the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of thepresent invention is defined not by the described embodiments but by theappended claims, and encompasses equivalents that fall within the scopeof the appended claims.

Any reference in this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” “example embodiment,” etc., means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. Theappearances of such phrases in various places in the specification arenot necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Further, when aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic is described inconnection with any embodiment, it is submitted that it is within thepurview of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, orcharacteristic in connection with other ones of the embodiments.

Although embodiments have been described with reference to a number ofillustrative embodiments thereof, it should be understood that numerousother modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled inthe art that will fall within the spirit and scope of the principles ofthis disclosure. More particularly, various variations and modificationsare possible in the component parts and/or arrangements of the subjectcombination arrangement within the scope of the disclosure, the drawingsand the appended claims. In addition to variations and modifications inthe component parts and/or arrangements, alternative uses will also beapparent to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A lighting apparatus comprising: a light sourcemodule including an optical member configured to guide light emitted bya light emitting unit to implement surface light emission; and anoptical module disposed above the light source module, wherein theoptical module includes a half-mirror member that transmits some lightemitted by the light source module and reflects the remaining lighttoward the light source module, and wherein an extension line of a topsurface of the optical member of the light source module and anextension line of a bottom surface of the half-mirror member form aninclination angle.
 2. The lighting apparatus of claim 1, wherein theoptical member includes a resin layer in which the light emitting unitis embedded and which is in direct contact with a light emitting surfaceof the light emitting unit.
 3. The lighting apparatus of claim 1,further comprising a first separation portion that spaces the opticalmodule apart from the optical member.
 4. The lighting apparatus of claim3, wherein the optical module includes a diffusion member disposedadjacent to the half-mirror member.
 5. The lighting apparatus of claim4, wherein the optical module includes at least one optical patternlayer disposed between the half-mirror member and the diffusion member.6. The lighting apparatus of claim 5, wherein the optical moduleincludes a second separation portion disposed between the half-mirrormember and the optical pattern layer.
 7. The lighting apparatus of claim3, wherein the light source module includes an optical pattern layer,wherein the optical pattern layer is disposed under or above the opticalmember.
 8. The lighting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the number oflight source modules is two or more, and a diffusion member, which isdisposed to form an inclination angle with respect to an extension lineformed by a bottom surface of the half-mirror member, is furtherincluded in the lighting apparatus.
 9. The lighting apparatus of claim8, wherein the diffusion member has a structure in which a portion ofthe diffusion member is bent.
 10. The lighting apparatus of claim 9,wherein an optical pattern layer is disposed to expose a surface of thediffusion member.
 11. The lighting apparatus of claim 10, wherein thediffusion member and the half-mirror member are spaced apart from eachother.
 12. The lighting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the number oflight source modules is two or more, and a reflection module disposedbetween the half-mirror member and the light source module is furtherincluded in the lighting apparatus.
 12. The lighting apparatus of claim12, wherein a surface of the reflection module is curved.
 13. Thelighting apparatus of claim 12, wherein the reflection module includes areflective layer formed of a structure in which one portion of a surfaceof a base material having light transmittancy is exposed.
 14. Thelighting apparatus of claim 12, wherein the reflection module includes aunit reflection module in which a reflective layer is provided on asurface of a base material having a curvature and light transmittancyand a base material portion configured to transmit light emitted by thelight source module.
 15. The lighting apparatus of claim 12, wherein thereflection module is disposed to be spaced apart from the opticalmodule.